War Is Peace. Freedom Is Slavery. Trump Won In A Landslide.

Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway — perhaps seeking to push back on the increasing attention to Hillary Clinton’s widening lead in the national popular vote — has been touting her boss’s margin of victory in the Electoral College. With Trump officially declared the winner in Michigan on Monday, he’s got 306 electoral votes — 56.9 percent of the available total of 538 and nothing to sneeze at. That’s more than George W. Bush got in either of his Electoral College victories, making it the highest total for a Republican since 1988.

But in a historical context, Trump’s Electoral College performance is decidedly below-average. So it’s a bit Orwellian to call it a “landslide” or a “blowout.” There have been 54 presidential elections since the ratification of the 12th Amendment in 1804. (Before that, presidential electors cast two votes each, making it hard to compare them to present-day elections.) Of those 54 cases, Trump’s share of the electoral vote — assuming there are no faithless electors or results overturned by recounts — ranks 44th:

ELECTORAL VOTES

RANK

ELECTION

WINNER

TOTAL

WINNER

WINNER’S SHARE

1

1820

James Monroe

232

231

99.6

2

1936

Franklin D. Roosevelt

531

523

98.5

3

1984

Ronald Reagan

538

525

97.6

4

1972

Richard Nixon

538

520

96.7

5

1804

Thomas Jefferson

176

162

92.0

6

1864

Abraham Lincoln

233

212

91.0

7

1980

Ronald Reagan

538

489

90.9

8

1964

Lyndon B. Johnson

538

486

90.3

9

1932

Franklin D. Roosevelt

531

472

88.9

10

1956

Dwight D. Eisenhower

531

457

86.1

11

1852

Franklin Pierce

296

254

85.8

12

1940

Franklin D. Roosevelt

531

449

84.6

13

1816

James Monroe

217

183

84.3

14

1928

Herbert Hoover

531

444

83.6

15

1952

Dwight D. Eisenhower

531

442

83.2

16

1912

Woodrow Wilson

531

435

81.9

17

1944

Franklin D. Roosevelt

531

432

81.4

18

1872

Ulysses S. Grant

352

286

81.3

19

1840

William Henry Harrison

294

234

79.6

20

1988

George H. W. Bush

538

426

79.2

21

1832

Andrew Jackson

286

219

76.6

22

1920

Warren G. Harding

531

404

76.1

23

1868

Ulysses S. Grant

294

214

72.8

24

1924

Calvin Coolidge

531

382

71.9

25

1904

Theodore Roosevelt

476

336

70.6

26

1996

Bill Clinton

538

379

70.4

27

1808

James Madison

175

122

69.7

28

1992

Bill Clinton

538

370

68.8

29

1828

Andrew Jackson

261

178

68.2

30

2008

Barack Obama

538

365

67.8

31

1908

William Howard Taft

483

321

66.5

32

1900

William McKinley

447

292

65.3

33

1892

Grover Cleveland

444

277

62.4

34

1844

James K. Polk

275

170

61.8

35

2012

Barack Obama

538

332

61.7

36

1896

William McKinley

447

271

60.6

37

1860

Abraham Lincoln

303

180

59.4

38

1812

James Madison

217

128

59.0

39

1856

James Buchanan

296

174

58.8

40

1888

Benjamin Harrison

401

233

58.1

41

1880

James A. Garfield

369

214

58.0

42

1836

Martin Van Buren

294

170

57.8

43

1948

Harry S. Truman

531

303

57.1

44

2016

Donald Trump

538

306

56.9

45

1960

John F. Kennedy

537

303

56.4

46

1848

Zachary Taylor

290

163

56.2

47

1968

Richard Nixon

538

301

55.9

48

1976

Jimmy Carter

538

297

55.2

49

1884

Grover Cleveland

401

219

54.6

50

2004

George W. Bush

538

286

53.2

51

1916

Woodrow Wilson

531

277

52.2

52

2000

George W. Bush

538

271

50.4

53

1876

Rutherford B. Hayes

369

185

50.1

54

1824

John Quincy Adams

261

84

32.2

Trump’s share of the Electoral College is below average

Sources: Wikipedia, Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections

By comparison, the average Electoral College winner claimed 70.9 percent of the available electoral votes, which would equate to 381 electoral votes given today’s total of 538 electors. For my money, it’s a bit much to call something a “landslide” when it can’t top that threshold. It’s not clear to me that President Obama’s win in 2008 should be thought of as a landslide, for instance. And Trump’s win surely doesn’t qualify. But cheer up, Trump fans: Your guy was elected president of the United States.

Nate Silver is the founder and editor in chief of FiveThirtyEight. @natesilver538